Claremore Daily Progress

Our View

December 3, 2009

BENCH SITTIN' — Oklahoma children at risk by DHS cuts

December 3, 2009 — Are Oklahoma children less safe today than they were a year ago?

After at Department of Human Services announcement earlier this week, children who live in a volatile home environment may be at a greater risk.

DHS told the state’s Commission of Human Services would be decreasing the number of child welfare workers.

Under the cloud of state budget cuts, DHS is set to slash it personnel to 997. Since May the number of DHS child welfare workers has fallen from 1,095 to 1,056 and now will dip below 1,000.

DHS is looking to attrition, not filling vacant positions, to account for the cuts.

Can Oklahoma children really be protected with fewer caseworkers?

The state agency is supposedly working to keep possibly abused children with their families and providing more counseling.

In 1997 DHS had more than 12,000 children in its care. That number has dropped to below 10,000. DHS Director Howard Hendrick has said the number of calls to the state’s child-abuse hot line has decreased.

Under the cloud of five percent budget cuts, Hendrick is downsizing the agency. This is not the answer. More funding is not the answer either. Some state legislators believe Hendrick’s action is a ploy to force lawmakers to give DHS more money.

This action comes only after it was discovered many DHS managers are receiving bonuses and raises, some as high as $1,800 per month. This is outrageous. At a time when state agencies are eliminating jobs and services, DHS personnel should not be receiving salary increases or bonuses.

DHS needs to be overhauled. Currently, DHS is embroiled in a class action lawsuit filed last year by Children's Rights, a New York-based child advocacy group. The lawsuit asserts that DHS has mistreated children in its custody.

Children living in Oklahoma need the security of a healthy, stable home. When circumstances prevent that from happening, our children need advocates that will protect their interests.

At this time DHS is not exhibiting behavior that would suggest it has the best interests of the child in mind.

Hendrick only has his best interest in mind.

Text Only
Our View
  • Randy Cowling First looks are just that — first looks

    No one ever gets to make a second first impression.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif COLUMN: Napalming the Internet

    Try to remember the Internet before we had websites that host user generated content. No eBay. No YouTube. No Facebook. No Twitter. No LinkedIn. No Foursquare. No product reviews, blogs or personal websites where users comment and post links.

    January 18, 2012 1 Photo

  • Burrage, sean.tiff Senate review by Sean Burrage

    Hailey Mathis is studying political science and history at the University of Oklahoma. She’s one of a very select group of college students each year who have the opportunity to learn about government and public service through an internship at the State Senate.  

    April 4, 2011 1 Photo

  • Dr. Mosier’s online success

    Dr. Richard Mosier is nothing if not a visionary.  Over 20 years ago he first had the idea of what was then Rogers State College becoming Oklahoma’s first institution of higher education to offer online instruction.

    January 18, 2012

  • New Year

    Looking back on 2011 brings many things to mind.  It was a busy year traveling the state, actively promoting Oklahoma as a competitive state and supporting strong public policy.

    January 18, 2012

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif The Veepstakes and unseating an incumbent President

    The Iowa Caucuses are over. Let the Veepstakes begin.

    January 5, 2012 1 Photo

  • Randy Cowling Will Rogers resourcefulness hard to do but necessary

    Finding a resolution to a long-term problem is never easy.  It requires change and adjustment.

    December 18, 2011 1 Photo

  • BAILEYDABNEY8-2009.tif What’s all the GRDA fuss about?

    At the request of Governor Mary Fallin, State Auditor Gary Jones issued a performance audit on December 8 for the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA),  covering a time period from July 1, 2003 through March 31, 2011.

    December 11, 2011 1 Photo

  • GRDA audit appears to be politically motivated

    When I learned a state audit of the Grand River Dam Authority had been earlier this year, I feared the request was made purely for political reasons.

    December 11, 2011

  • Have a happy holiday season

    It is hard to imagine that we are well into the school year with the Fall term near completion and the Spring term ahead. Claremore School students continue to distinguish themselves on the national and state levels. 

    December 10, 2011